Divine Atonement
by bobsparrow
Summary: In the end, it was him. It would always be him.


___A/N: I don't have much to say right now; this is obviously just a little preface, and the big story takes off in the next chapter. I mostly want to say that the other chapters will NOT be this short. They'll be around at least ten Word pages each. This is just an intro. Not much to comment on but hopefully I've caught interest somewhere! _

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

"King Arthur next," Eugene grumbled, picking up the book by his head and handing it to her. Rapunzel accepted the offer. "Not out loud, though. I need my beauty sleep."

She hummed in amusement as he rolled onto his stomach, grass stains splayed out over his ivory shirt. "The Que—my mother won't like you ruining your clothes."

"Call it wounds of confrontation: a grass nation attacked and I shielded you like the hero I am." His comment made her laugh aloud, and she reached to run her fingers through his hair. He gathered the scattered books and placed his head atop, sighing contently as she tickled her fingers through his hair.

"You are my hero," she whispered, bending over to kiss behind his ear. He grunted in dozy reply. She picked up the book and balanced it on her knee, keeping one hand in his hair and crossing her ankles, thumbing through the first few pages with her free hand.

She and Eugene often wiled away their spare mornings in the garden. He took advantage of the quiet respite, sleeping to fill what slumber he lacked in his new work. Having recently wed the crowned princess, he found the constant parades of duties exhausting, though he assured her worth it. She, on the other hand, spent their time reading. She hoped to fill what she missed in her years locked away with only three books at hand. Those words were burned in her mind, superfluous details from equally hollow tomes. She made up for it now in her endeavour to scour every library shelf.

_King Arthur. _

"Was he a good king?" Rapunzel asked. Her tone was too pleasant for Eugene to chastise. He decided he wasn't that tired anyway.

"The best," Eugene replied, then considered. "Well, pretty good for an English guy, at least."

"English. The Island, right?"

"Yes."

"You don't like England?"

"I'm German; I don't like anyone," he teased. She giggled again, rubbing the back of his head. "Ooh, that was nice, do it again." She continued.

At some point, though, her ministrations stopped, he fell asleep, and she was too engrossed in her reading to notice any of it. The foreign court, the wizards and witches, the knights who embodied every holy ideal, and of course Arthur and Guinevere: all of them enraptured her in their adventures.

And then there was Lancelot. Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Lancelot the Noble, Sir Lancelot the Good. Every time his name was said, another descriptor matched it, each greater than the last. Of all the knights, all those remarkable beings, he was paramount in dignity, loyalty, and gallantry. And yet in the very core of his existence, the catalyst of his life, was love. His love for the queen was greater than any enchantment cast, whether by Merlin or Morgan, and stronger than any sword wielded, whether by Sir Galahad or Sir Gawain. In the end, through all that gallantry and war, his was a story of love.

Tears prickled her eyes for the doomed lovers, Lancelot and Guinevere. And yet she wished to weep for Arthur too, and being unable to decide who deserved her sentiment, the tears that trickled past were confused, bitter, and broken.

Eugene began to stir. Though she didn't notice him, he noticed her, and instantly turned to sit up.

"Rapunzel, hey." He wrapped her in his arms. She closed the book and leaned into his embrace, sniffling.

"She loves Arthur." Desperately, she clung to Eugene's sleeve, her eyes closed tight as the stories played across the black. "She does, she truly does. He's her hero. But Lancelot...he's Lancelot...how could she not love him?"

"They're just stories." It was Eugene's turn to smooth her hair. "Just stories, Rapunzel."

No. But then how could he know they were so much more?


End file.
